


Sun and Moonlight Sonata

by breakfastbeebo



Series: Ryden One-shots [5]
Category: Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Almost Kiss, Early Days, Flirting, Holding Hands, M/M, fever era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-21 19:31:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8257790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breakfastbeebo/pseuds/breakfastbeebo
Summary: Brendon made every part of Ryan tense with held breaths and nervous stuttering. Brendon liked to call Ryan a musical genius, even when he messed up a simple left hand melody. Brendon liked to make Ryan blush and glow with laughter. Brendon was very good at what he did.





	

Why did their rehearsal space have to be so damn _hidden_? Ryan just wanted to leave for five minutes, take a breather during their break between the fifth and sixth hour of practicing for their upcoming tour, and he got _lost_. All the hallways looked the same and every door he seemed to try was locked- or definitely _not_ the one he was supposed to go in. He had forty-five minutes left and he was still wandering around a hallway, his shoes clacking against the cement floor and echoing in the empty hallway.

“Fuck.” Ryan sighed, reaching his third set of stairs since walking out of the rehearsal space. If only he had paid attention to the room number, then he wouldn’t look like a damn fool on one of the most important days of their career. How does he get _lost_ in a building? “Anyone _alive_ on this floor? _Hello_?”

Ryan sat down on the stairs and stretched his legs out in front of him, giving up his search and leaning back against the ascending steps. He sighed again, muttering to himself, when music began playing, answering his question. Above him, trailing down the stairs to his pitiful form, was someone playing a classical sonata with a skill that surprised him. Ryan wasn’t sure who it could be, but it would at least be someone who could maybe help him find the rest of his band. And keep him from further embarrassment.

Ryan took the stairs slowly, trying not to make too much noise and cloud the melody leading him. He reached a new landing and hallway stretching forward far longer than Ryan could actually see in the insufficient lighting. He walked down the hallway, following his ears to a door propped open by a singular converse sneaker. It was worn and horribly familiar. Someone borrowed it from him this morning.

“Spencer?” Ryan asked, pressing a hand on the door and opening it further, the music continuing over his words. “Spencer, you in here?”

“Not Spencer.” A voice called back, just behind the door. Ryan peered around it to see Brendon sitting at the piano, creating the music that had lured him there.

“Oh. Hey, Brendon.” Ryan said, his voice blanketed by the softening music. He stepped inside and let the door close back over behind him.

“Hey, Ryan.” Brendon turned to smile at him, his hands still moving across the keys. “Have a nice walk?” Ryan didn’t even know he noticed.

“Yeah. Just, walked around. Got lost.” Ryan admitted, shuffling to stand closer to the piano and its player. “Was able to get back though… Followed your music.”

“Oh, really?” His grin widened and his eyes squinted in the expression of joy. “A siren’s call, huh?”

“Something like that.” Ryan laughed and let his head hang down, his hand resting on the back of his neck. “Didn’t know you could play like that.”

“Only thing I could play for a while.” Brendon replied, his fingers shortly playing the last note of a phrase before coming off the keys, his hands resting in his lap. “Mom was such a sucker for classical music.”

“Well it sounded, uh, really great.” Ryan nodded, gesturing to Brendon weakly.

“Thank you.” Brendon nodded as he accepted the compliment. He looked up at Ryan for a moment, noting his nervous side-stepping. “Would you like to sit down?”

“Oh, no that’s okay. I don’t mean to-”

“C’mon.” Brendon moved over on the bench and patted the spot to his left. “I’ll teach you the left hand.”

“I don’t think that is going to-”

“End badly at all. Me neither. I think it’s going to be great.” Brendon continued to pat the seat, smirking at Ryan’s failed refusal. “Sit down with me.”

Ryan made sure to keep his head hanging low as he sat, a crimson blush running up his neck to his cheeks. Brendon placed his hands back on the keys, his back straightening immediately and elbows coming away from his body slightly, bumping into Ryan’s. Ryan nervously placed his hands beside Brendon’s, waiting for his mediocre skill to be laughed at. Ryan’s fingers rested on the tips of the keys, his forefinger running over one of the key’s chipped edges.

“Your hands have to be _on_ the keys, Ry.” Brendon laughed, nudging Ryan’s side. “That’s kind of the first step.” Ryan embarrassingly moved his hands up, his face already burning. Why did he agree to this? He should have just made up another excuse to leave again. He always found a way out before, why did he let himself be alone with Brendon _now_? “Okay, so you are going to stay right here, all the notes are between _these_ two Cs.” Brendon reached a hand over and pointed at the keys. Ryan curled his fingers back and avoided the contact.

“Okay.” Ryan nodded, sliding his hands over to rest on the proper keys. Brendon played a melody quickly on his half of the piano, telling Ryan the notes as he went. Ryan was lost in the mesmerizing dance of Brendon’s left and right hands, trying to articulate muscle memory; he barely remembered the notes Brendon told him. “Right. Right.” Ryan nodded at Brendon, even though the melody was barely being processed and he was just doing so to excuse the continuous stare he was juggling between Brendon’s hands and his beautifully focused expression. “Got it.”

“You sure?” Brendon asked, looking over and making Ryan’s eyes drop to his hands.

“The only way to learn is to actually play it.” Ryan said, trying to get something between them and the possibility of conversation.

“Very true.” Brendon nodded, letting his left hand sit between them as he readied his right. “Ready?”

“Sure. Do I, uh, do I start?” Ryan felt his fingers go stiff as he stumbled through his sentence, his face heating up again.

“I would love it if you did.” Brendon replied with mock adoration. He laughed at himself and Ryan curled his fist and tried to stop his nerves from ruining the song and moment.

Ryan shook his hand out one last time before striking the keys, holding them and looking over at Brendon as he moved between the notes of the melody, his head lifting and nodding quickly as Ryan was supposed to change notes. Brendon grinned as the two halves came together, blending and creating the same melody that had brought Ryan up to him in the first place. It was a song that made Ryan feel like his bones should be aching with some incomprehensible sadness, but he just couldn’t bring himself to feel it; he was too busy looking at pure joy.

That was, of course, until Ryan hit the wrong note and ruined the song, the notes swirling around them and locking them in a cloud of suspended reality clattering down around them. Ryan’s hand jumped from the keys and Brendon began laughing at the horrible clash of tones.

“That’s not quite it.” He didn’t scold Ryan, but merely chuckled at the lack of musicality coming from two apparent _professional_ musicians. “Play that last part again.” Ryan pressed down on the keys gently, his fingers stiffening again. “See, there it is. You moved down a half-step.” Brendon reached over and grabbed Ryan’s hand, sliding his fingers over to the correct keys. Brendon’s fingers splayed over the top of Ryan’s hand as he pulled away, flattening it and giving him correct form. “Jesus, relax your hand, Ryan. You can’t play like that.”

“I am relaxed-”

“Your hands are so tense I can see them shaking.” Brendon seemed amused by Ryan’s attempt at avoiding the obvious, and scooted closer to him on the bench- which was already impossible. “You have to relax them.” He lifted Ryan’s hand with both of his own and stretched his right hand underneath Ryan’s left, running across his palm and trying to loosen his fingers from their bent, frozen form. Ryan held his breath as Brendon’s hand pressed against his own, his small gasp going undetected by the boy beside him.

“Sorry, I, uh, I just get nervous.” Ryan muttered, trying to moving his fingers again. “Don’t want to mess up.”

“You don’t have to be nervous around me.” Ryan expected the comment to be off-handed and casual, but Brendon lowered his voice and spoke quietly, both of their stares focused on their hands. Ryan’s fingers curled back down, folding over the tips of Brendon’s. “I always admire everything you create.”

“Except for when I barely recognize complementary notes.” Ryan muttered, sighing and letting out a short laugh.

“Even geniuses have an off day.” Brendon was turning his head slowly, letting his gaze fall on Ryan. He looked only into his eyes, but Ryan could feel every part of him being observed.

“God, _please_ , I am not-”

“One to take compliments well.” Brendon nodded, pressing his lips together and sliding his fingers over to slot between Ryan’s. “I know. Still mean it.”

“Brendon-”

“Don’t make me say something else.” He challenged, a smirk growing on his lips. “I could start talking about your voice, your eyes, your _hands_ … Anything.” Brendon’s gaze drifted back to their hands that were now completely intertwined, resting on the silent keys. “Especially the way you try to act like I don’t completely flatter you.”

“Oh, _shut up_.” Ryan bumped Brendon’s shoulder, trying to look disapprovingly at Brendon as he laughed, giving Ryan a glowing grin. “Now you’re ruining it.”

“You think so?” He hummed, moving to sit shoulder to shoulder with Ryan again. He leaned closer as he spoke, Ryan fighting the urge to move back and keep their distance. Ryan’s freehand gripped the bottom hem of his shirt, his entire body tensing at the feeling of Brendon’s warm breath against his lips.

“I want my shoe back.” Ryan jerked in surprise and clanged Brendon and his hands into the keys as Spencer approached the door. “Thanks for keeping it out for me.”

“No problem, Spence.” Brendon replied, clearing his throat and pulling away from Ryan. Their hands untangled messily, their fingers hooking around each other involuntarily. They fell together so perfectly, tearing them apart seemed unnatural.

Spencer shut the door behind him as he removed his shoe from doorstop duty. He sat down at his drum set and began tying it back onto his foot. His focus was aimed downward and Ryan used the distraction to move away from Brendon slowly. Brendon used it to place his hand over Ryan’s as they rested on the piano bench. His fingers curled around Ryan’s slowly, his grip careful but tight. Neither of them looked at each other, but rather the keys in front of them, but Ryan could just see the smirk Brendon was attempting to suppress.

“What were you two doing?” Spencer asked causally.

“Just showing Ryan a few things on the piano.” Brendon answered, looking at Ryan quickly before turning to look over his shoulder. “You know, the basics.”

“You already know how to play though.” Spencer said, looking up to talk to Ryan. Brendon’s hand tightened around Ryan’s quickly in response. Spencer’s gaze lasted a moment before going back to his shoe.

“Yeah, but, a genius sometimes needs a reminder.” Ryan responded, keeping his smile to himself. “Just a little brush with brilliance.”

“Flirting with the piano, I see.” Spencer nodded, making sounds of approval.

“ _Exactly_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to nailsforbreakfazt for this cute prompt!  
> If you have prompt ideas you want to see up next, let me know on tumblr (@breakfastbeebo). My ask is always open!


End file.
